Iven Klineberg: Is traditional complete denture therapy passé ?

Even though preventive and restorative efforts increase the retention of natural teeth considerably, the number of edentulous patients will grow due to the epidemiologic growth of the older patient group. Adequate treatment of edentulous patient remains a challenge and Dr Klineberg discusses the question, if traditional complete denture therapy is still an adequate option. Dr Klineberg reviews aspects of diagnostics, treatment planning, maintenance and quality of life for the patient, and highlights functional, proprioperception/osseoperception and occlusion themes. Quality of life outcomes in industrialized nations confirm a general dissatisfaction with removable prosthesis and today, for the edentulous mandible a 2-implant supported overdenture is considered, depending on the source, 'standard of care' or 'minimum acceptable protocol'. Data confirm functional and esthetic advantages of fixed implant oral rehabilitation with enhanced psychosocial outcomes and Dr Klineberg concludes that in industrialized countries implant-based oral rehabilitation has become the expectation and has made the traditional complete dental prosthesis passé.